What is love?
by BrighterThanTheSun15
Summary: "What is love to me? To others it's once in a lifetime; others believe love at first sight. What is it to me? It's not how much you say "I love you", It's how much you prove it's true." Austin has to write an essay on what love is to him. Auslly one-shot :)


**What's up? I thought of this idea when I was eating cereal and here I am! I own nothing.**

Austin Moon walked sluggishly to his first class- English. His mood changed when he saw her, the beautiful Ally. Lucky for him, they were best friends. Austin loved her with all of his heart; but was afraid to say it. Everyone knew it. Even Ally knew it.

"Hey, Ally! Wait up!" He caught up to her easily. Ally turned around, seeing the blond approach her.

"Hi Austin. Yay it's Monday! Aren't you excited?" Ally exclaimed. He knew how much his friend loved school. He didn't know why, and never questioned it.

"No, not really." He mumbled, opening his locker. Ally did the same.

"C'mon Austin, it's school! Everyday has something to teach you." Austin got his English book out. Ally did too; pulling it close to her chest as she did with her songbook. She had the same class as him for first period.

"Okay." His voice was sarcastic. He patted her head playfully and went to class. Ally rolled her eyes and followed.

The two walked into class, noisy as usual. The Mrs. White quieted everyone down with a loud "_shhh". _The teacher was surprised it worked, usually she had to yell to calm down the teenagers. Austin and Ally parted their ways, going to their seats. When everyone was quiet, she spoke.

"Alright," the old lady put on her spectacles at the tip of her nose. "Today we are going to right an essay about what love is too all of you." The teacher pointed at the class. "It has to be in your point of view, and you will have to present it to the class." She explained.

Austin looked longingly at Ally. This would be the perfect assignment! Austin knew what love was. He had been in it ever since he came in the store- playing the drums with corndogs- but that was a different story. Ally raised her hand.

"When is this due?"

"Good question, Dawson. It will be due tomorrow. You have all the class time today, if you don't finish..." Austin didn't even need to hear the rest. He already knew she was going to say: _"If you don't finish today, you need to work on it at home." _

Austin almost tore apart his binder looking for a piece of paper.

"Pst, Austin." He heard a familiar voice whisper. It was Dez. The red-head was offering him paper. He took it.

"Thanks buddy." He smiled. Dez shook his head with a "no problem" look. But that wasn't all Dez had up his sleeve. He looked at Ally- then him- then back to Ally again; giving Austin a creepy smile. Dez had known Austin had a crush on Ally for a while now. In fact, he got him to admit his feelings.

"Dude, stop." He whispered seriously. Dez looked down at his paper; still smirking.

Austin took his pencil and began writing.

_What is love to me? To others it's once in a lifetime; others believe love at first sight. What is it to me? It's something that no one can describe. It doesn't matter how much you say "I love you", it's how much you prove it's true._

Austin read over his work proudly. His thoughts went to Ally once again. In a way he was writing it about her. The lovesick blond looked at her again. She turned around; facing him and waving. Austin waved back, feeling a little nervous for some reason. Dez looked at him and wiggled his eyebrows.

Austin rolled his eyes and went back to his paper. His brain seemed to snap, losing all of its ideas. Ally was like a bright light. She was writing with no problem. She looked very concentrated. Those were the times Austin just wanted to tell her how cute she looked. The way he told her that was a little different. He would poke her or pick her up when she was busy; or just when he thought she looked cute.

...

Before he knew it, the bell rang. He approached Ally.

"How far did you get with the essay?" He asked curiously.

"I'm almost done with it," she answered. "How's yours coming?"

"Okay, I guess."

"You don't have to lie." Ally comforted. Ally knew Austin like a book. She could tell when he Was lying. She could always tell when he was lying. He put his head down a little.

"Okay, okay... it's not going very well." He admitted.

"You can get it done. I mean it's easy because what we have..." she trailed off. Her heart started to speed up. "I-is a l-loving friendship. N-nothing else. Greaty-great-great!" Ally played with her her fingers. Austin smirked at her awkwardness.

"Hey can I read yours?" Austin reached his hand out for the paper. She winced, putting it behind her.

"No!" Ally spoke louder than she meant. Austin drew back a little. "I mean.. no. I-I want you to read it when it's done." She tried to explain.

Austin nodded.

"Okay." He said awkwardly.

The rest of the morning went slow for Austin. He was trying to think of ensperation for his essay. But nothing came.

Finally, lunch had came. Austin saw Ally and Trish at their regular table where Austin and Dez would always join them. By the looks of it, they were in deep conversation. Austin was currently waiting in line with Dez, hearing him babbling about how good the tater tots are at their school.

Austin wasn't honestly listening, he just nodded every now and then pretending to listen. He was only focused on one thing: Ally Dawson. Unexpectedly, Dez asked:

"Austin when are you going to tell her already? I knew you weren't listening to a word I was saying because I saw you drooling for Ally. Buddy, tell her you love her. And I promise you she'll feel the same way. Look at you. You have a lot to offer for a girl like her. Trust me, she loves you just as much as you love her." He vowed.

"How do you know all that? I can't just walk up and say: "Hi Ally I love you." No way." He disagreed.

"Would you stop being so stubborn about this? If you don't stop to think about that, you could lose her." Dez argued. Austin didn't say anything else. For once he had nothing to say. He moved up in line; finally getting his lunch. He couldn't stop thinking about what Dez said. The thought of losing his beautiful, awkward Ally filled his thoughts with great melancholy.

The blond sat down in his normal seat next to Dez.

"Austin, Ally has something to tell you." Trish nudged her.

"That's great. Austin has something to tell _Ally." _Dez nudged him. Austin and Ally looked awkwardly at each other. Trish and Dez secretly high-fived. This was one of the first times they actually did something together without trying to kill each other.

"Trish, what are you talking about?" Ally pretended to act surprised. Austin tried to do the same, but failed.

"Look, Ally. There's something I've been meaning to tell you," he started. "I... I lo-" his voice was cut off by the bell. _Saved by the bell, _he thought as he quickly left the lunch room; with Dez following, leaving Ally and Trish behind. Ally sighed heavily.

"Don't worry Ally, he'll say it eventually. It just takes time." Trish patted shoulder and walked out. Ally stared at her bracelet Austin got heru a few Christmases ago. She remembered being under the mistletoe about 4 times that year. She smiled at the memory that was always in her heart. She thought about what Trish said. She just had to wait.

...

Once Austin got home, he quickly got out his essay. He wanted to get it done as soon as found himself staring at the paper with only a few sentences. _This seems impossible, _Austin thought taping his pencil. But then he remembered the embarrassment of lunch a few hours ago. He was going to confess his love but was interrupted by the bell.

He shook his head quickly trying to snap the thought out of his brain.

"Okay, let's just get this done. The sooner I get it done, the sooner I can play video games in Dez's basement." Austin told himself.

As time went by, Austin managed to write more easily. He knew who he was writing about, and wasn't afraid to admit it anymore. He was in love with Ally Dawson and he didn't care who knew. And that's exactly what he said in his essay. Austin saw his mom enter the kitchen.

"Hi sweetie, what are you working on?" Mimi asked curiously; approaching the table and looking over his shoulder.

"Oh it's just an essay about what my opinion is on love." He explained.

"Can I read it?"

"U-uh, it's kind of personal." He tried. To his surprise, his mother nodded in understanding and walked away. Austin read it over one last time before he went to bed. He went tiredly up the stairs to his room. After a long essay, anyone would just want to go to bed, no matter how early it was. It was only about 8:00 when he went to bed.

Austin lay in his bed with his thoughts full of Ally. He was going to tell her first thing tomorrow. His dreams were full of lovesickness that he couldn't barley understand; but at the same time understood.

...

The next morning, Austin woke up with a smile on his face. This was the day everything would change. He would get the girl he never should have let go of. He didn't know why he ever broke up with her. They could have made things work, they just needed to try harder. He just prayed Dez was right.

Once he got to school, Austin saw the beautiful brunette by her locker talking to Trish and Dez. He approached her.

"Ally can I talk to you, in private?" Austin's voice was gentle and his eyes met hers. Dez and Trish smiled. Ally nodded. Dez walked away, patting Austin on the shoulder and whispered:

"You got this buddy."

"Good luck." Trish followed Dez letting them be alone. Austin sighed.

"Ally," he slipped his hand in hers. To Austin's relief, she didn't let go. She just blushed; looking down at their hands with a smile. "About what I was going to say at lunch... okay, I like you. Everyone knows it; _you _know it. But it's more than that," Austin paused for a moment before he went on. "I am in love with you, Ally Dawson, and I always will be."

Ally put her head up, never thinking of a time she smiled so hard.

"I love you too, Austin Moon!" Austin exclaimed, taking him by the collar of his shirt and kissing him. A few heartbeats later, Trish and Dez came out of no where and stared clapping.

"Finally!" Trish shouted.

"We've been waiting for you guy to say that forever!" Dez added. Austin and Ally smiled at each other. Their gaze broke when the bell rang. The two were still holding hands. They said their goodbyes to Trish, who didn't have the same English period as the others. Other than Austin whispering in Ally's ear; hearing her giggle a few times, their walk to English was silent. Dez didn't mind them being like that around him. He liked it that they were an acting like a couple with no problems.

...

Austin heard a few people present their presentations to the class. He raised his hand up to volunteer next. He soon found himself in the front of the classroom. Feeling a flash of stage fright, Austin cleared his throat nervously. Ally smiled in encouragement. In a heartbeat, his muscles relaxed as he began to spill out easily.

He held up his paper so he was able to see it.

"What is love to me? To others it's once in a lifetime; others believe love at first sight. What is it to me? Love is something that no one can quite describe. It's not about how much you say "I love you", it's how much you prove it's true. Once you find that one person, that one special person," his gaze landed on Ally. "You'll know. Because it will last forever. As long as it's true love. If not, it's a good thing because there is always someone else in the world waiting for you. That person will take your hand and love you forever. The thing about love, you may not figure it out for a while. When you really get to know the person, you'll figure it out. I did. I found love. And I can tell you it's the best feeling in the world to know someone loves you. I thought all these other girls were "perfect," and "flawless" but no one is perfect or flawless. Once I realized that, I knew who I was meant to be with. And I always will be." Austin finished, looking up at the clapping audience, Ally and Dez were even cheering.

For once Austin had impressed the teacher, for she was clapping too.

"Great job, Moon." The teacher said.

"Thanks Mrs. White," he smiled. "But I should really give credit to my girlfriend, Ally Dawson."

"Ally?" Mrs. White said surprised.

"Yeah, Ally. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be able to the assignment." He explained. Ally smiled.

"And why is that?"

"Because I love her." He said like it was obvious. The old lady said nothing else. She just took his paper and ordered him to sit down. Austin did as ordered. The rest of the time went slow for Austin. He heard everyone present except a few people. One of those few people was Ally. Finally, class was let out.

"Hey." Ally caught up to him and nudged him.

"Hey."

"I loved your speech. And I love you." She peeked his nose.

"Thanks. It took me a while. I'm sure yours will be much better when you present tomorrow." Austin pointed out. Ally didn't say anything else. Austin gave her a quick hug and went to his next class.

**So how did I do? Sorry the end is kind of just... ugh. But the story is cute, right? Please R&R!**


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